The Near-Term Evolution of Video Buying

Oct. 31, 2025 /Mpelembe Mdia/ —  A  June 2025 report commissioned by Google that examines the near-term evolution of video buying within media agencies. The report argues that the function of TV/Video buying is becoming increasingly complex, driven by evolving definitions of “TV,” the rise of digital and connected TV (CTV), and marketers’ growing demands for customisation, flexibility, and performance-based outcomes. Consequently, the role of the traditional buyer is blurring with that of a planner, requiring greater integration with digital teams and an increased reliance on both human judgment and automation technology. Ultimately, the document forecasts that while the buying function will not disappear, it will transform into a more sophisticated, data-driven supply chain management process within the advertising industry.

The evolving nature of technology coupled with marketers’ increasing demand for customization and flexibility is fundamentally transforming the TV/Video buying function by increasing complexity, integrating roles, and driving a dependence on automation and data.

Transformation Driven by Customised Demands and Flexibility

The demand for customization and flexibility is reshaping the core responsibilities of TV/Video buyers.

Expanded Role and Integration: TV/Video buyers are increasingly looking to satisfy individual marketers’ customized needs and their growing demands for flexibility. This pressure means that the responsibilities of TV/Video buyers are beginning to resemble those of planners. This expansion mirrors the earlier evolution seen in digital buying, where buyers had to assume a much greater range of responsibilities.

Indifference to Standardization: Marketers generally do not feel an urgent need to standardize their operations. The costs associated with customized processes, data, and other aspects of TV/Video buying are relatively low now compared to the 20th century when such customization would have been prohibitively expensive.

Focus on Outcomes: Marketers are shifting their focus to shorter-term Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as sales or sales intent, or other “outcomes” that digital platforms are often better positioned to provide. Consequently, performance-based media goals are becoming increasingly common, even among large brand-focused advertisers who previously focused exclusively on reach and frequency.

Shift in Priorities: Marketers are increasingly indifferent about the specific advertising properties they purchase, prioritizing audiences over content (outside of sports) due to the interchangeability of most content. This has led to negotiations focusing less on specific content and more on reach and frequency.

Transformation Driven by Evolving Technology and Automation

The growing role of technology is intensifying the complexity of the buying function and requiring new operational structures.

Increased Complexity: Technology plays a meaningful role in day-to-day work. Buying has become much more complex due to the need to manage atomized ad units, shifting forms of distribution, processes that overlap with other media, and overlapping media owner relationships.

Integration with Digital Processes: The complexity of TV/Video buying requires greater reliance on both humans and machines, particularly as integration with other types of digital media grows. Processes associated with digital media, including programmatic buying and the application of robust data sets, are now widely used in Connected TV (CTV) environments.

Rise of Automation: Efforts to automate work are increasing yearly, continuing a trend that started with the introduction of computers to the agency world. With the availability of processes and tools to automate buying, greater volumes of biddable inventory are expected to be bought through automated means; within the next five years, very little is expected to be purchased via an insertion order.

Data and Measurement Reliance: New consumer technologies have ushered in a range of new advertising technologies. Performance-based media goals require greater reliance on tools and processes used to measure and track outcomes back to media activation data. Furthermore, data is becoming an increasingly important aspect of negotiations.

Supply Chain Management: Buyers and their managers must increasingly think like supply chain managers, focusing on optimizing processes and investing in continuous improvement. This aligns with marketers’ growing recognition that media buying is part of a supply chain, a perspective reinforced by the increased involvement of marketers’ procurement teams.

Resulting Change in Buying Function Structure

The convergence of technological evolution and customized demands has fundamentally altered the operational structure of the buying function:

Blended Roles and Discretion: Planning and buying are becoming increasingly integrated in TV, much as they have in “digital” buying for social and open web media. This iterative process means buyers are provided with more discretion, more choices, more data, and more feedback than in previous eras when TV/Video buyers were often characterized as “order takers”.

Tactical Focus: The focus of the buying function has shifted to the tactical and bottom-up level of choices that buyers make, such as the selection of buying tools and the specifics around measurement and analytics. This contrasts with prior eras dominated by top-down decision-making regarding strategic choices like media owner volume allocations and negotiated pricing rates.

Shifting Human/Machine Mix: Effectively managing this complexity requires a shifting mix of humans and machines, necessitating ongoing investment in both. Ironically, greater automation can lead to more labor, which in turn drives the need for greater automation (a “circular consequence”). This transformation means automation becomes more widespread, while the industry simultaneously appears to require more human involvement—or at least more human judgment—than before.

Organizational Integration: There is an ongoing trend of matrixing and consolidating buying functions across media. Reporting lines are blurring between teams focused nominally on television and purely digital media. Furthermore, teams previously separated by geographic focus (local and national) are increasingly aligned, as digital video inventory can satisfy any given geographic focus.

The new buying complexities in the TV/Video function are driven by the evolving nature of the video ecosystem, technological advancements, and shifting demands from marketers for customization and performanceThe new buying complexities in the TV/Video function are driven by the evolving nature of the video ecosystem, technological advancements, and shifting demands from marketers for customization and performance.

The primary factors driving this complexity include:

1. The Evolving Video Ecosystem and Technology

Technology plays a meaningful role in the day-to-day work of TV/Video buying. This evolution has introduced several new layers of complexity:

Atomized Ad Units and Distribution: Buying has become much more complex due to the need to manage atomized ad units and shifting forms of distribution.

Overlapping Media and Relationships: Complexity arises from processes that now overlap with other media and the management of overlapping media owner relationships.

Integration with Digital Processes: The growing complexity of TV/Video buying and the growing integration with other types of digital media require more responsibilities and decision-making than traditional television buying. Processes associated with digital media, such as programmatic buying and the application of robust data sets, are now widely used in Connected TV (CTV) environments.

New Advertising Technologies: New consumer technologies have brought with them a range of new advertising technologies.

Lack of Uniformity in Terms and Conditions: The non-uniform nature of the industry’s terms and conditions contributes to complexity, leading to agreements that take months to complete. Agreements may now include details on matters such as ad servers, and marketers’ preference for different combinations of services results in a wide range of micro-negotiations on Terms and Conditions.

2. Customization and Demand for Flexibility

Marketers’ increasing focus on individual needs and flexibility compels buyers to take on a broader, more intricate role.

Customized Needs: TV/Video buyers are increasingly looking to meet individual marketers’ customized needs and their growing demands for flexibility.

Marketer Indifference to Standardization: Few marketers feel an urgent need to standardize their operations, as the costs associated with customization of processes and data are relatively low now compared to the 20th century, when customization would have been prohibitively expensive.

Blending of Roles: The demands for customization and flexibility mean that the responsibilities of TV/Video buyers increasingly look like those of planners, requiring them to take on a much greater range of responsibilities, similar to the evolution seen in digital buying.

Tactical Focus: Complexity is reflected in the increasing degree of focus on the tactical and bottom-up level of choices that buyers make, such as the selection of buying tools and the specifics around measurement and analytics. This contrasts with prior eras dominated by top-down strategic decision-making.

3. Focus on Performance and Data

The shift in marketer focus toward outcomes rather than just reach and frequency mandates greater data reliance and measurement complexity.

Performance-Based Goals: Performance-based media goals are becoming increasingly common, requiring TV/Video buyers to demonstrate shorter-term performance or “outcomes”. This forces a greater reliance on tools and processes used to measure outcomes and track them back to media activation data.

Data in Negotiations: Data is becoming an increasingly important aspect of negotiations.

Multiple Data Sources: Marketers are likely to increasingly rely upon multiple data sources as they seek to sustain historical benchmarks while also using data to better target and assess the impact of their media choices.

The Resulting Complexity

Ultimately, the evolution of TV/Video buying will require the addition of significant complexity to the business, encompassing matrixed reporting structures, traditional and programmatic buying processes, the use of data, and connecting all of these elements to outcomes. Managing this complexity requires a shifting mix of humans and machines and ongoing investment in both.

Several traditional elements of US TV and its associated buying function still matter significantly, despite the rapid evolution toward digital integration, data, and complexity.

Strategic and Cultural Importance

The medium itself and its traditional role in marketing continue to be highly relevant:

The medium of television has retained much of its importance for consumers and within society.

The function of TV/Video buying is not going away; it will evolve as an increasingly complex and critical part of the media agency industry.

Many marketers who rely on TV generally believe that their brands are important and that TV is the most effective way to build a brand.

The traditional notion of “production value” and format consistency generally defines TV in the eyes of many, providing a benchmark against other video formats.

Content and Programming

Specific types of programming retain critical value, largely because they maintain traditional reach metrics:

Sports-related programming has clearly separated itself from most other forms of professional content. This is because viewing levels for sports have remained relatively steady, audience reach remains broad, viewing is typically live, and ad loads remain relatively heavy compared with streaming.

Streamers with high-quality, high-cost content are able to leverage and bundle that content with other inventory.

Buying Metrics and Negotiation Processes

Despite the growing focus on performance and outcomes, traditional structures and metrics still dominate many aspects of the trade:

Reach and frequency retains importance as many, and possibly most, large brands who dominate television advertising continue to focus on these metrics as proxies for reaching broad audiences.

Linear TV is still mostly bought on age/gender demos, although the adoption of audience-based inventory is growing.

As the US industry currently stands, dayparts still matter, even though negotiations are becoming increasingly “streaming first”.

The nature of the core agreements that advertisers make in Upfronts remains stable: annual commitments remain advantageous because they help sellers lock in budgets and help buyers (and marketers) plan for an extended time horizon.

Buyers still need to cost-effectively manage their old responsibilities—which are not going away—even if they become less important in the future.

Operational and Measurement Standards

Human interaction and established industry benchmarks are still vital elements of the operational process:

Relationships still matter and likely lead to better overall outcomes, compared to situations that do not depend on relationships. Advantages follow from human-to-human interaction between the buy and sell sides (and with marketers).

Although other currencies will be relied upon, Nielsen will undoubtedly remain as the industry’s key benchmark.

Historically, TV/Video advertising was primarily bought by individuals whose role was closely connected to media agencies, often characterized by a specific cultural image and defined set of functions.

Based on the sources, the following points describe who historically bought TV/Video advertising:

Media Agency-Led Function: TV “buying” (also referred to as “investment” or “trading”) has historically been a critical function for the advertising industry led by media agencies.

The “Mad Men” Archetype: To many non-practitioners, the character Harry Crane from the fictional series Mad Men was the epitome of the three-martini-lunch buyer of the second half of the 20th century, suggesting a reality where relationship-building played a large role.

“Creatures of the Media Industry”: For decades, TV/Video buyers generally saw themselves as creatures of the media industry who provided a service connected to the work of an advertising or media agency in relative isolation from marketers’ broader businesses.

“Order Takers”: In the past, TV/Video buyers were often characterized as “order takers,” applying some tactical discretion, but much less than they have now.

Focus on Technology Integration: Even during the era epitomized by the Mad Men character, one of the more critical functions was the effort to bring computing and technology into the processes required to manage a “television department”.

For now, someone like Harry Crane would probably still see many similarities in the TV/Video buying of the current era compared to his era, although this function is expected to become unrecognizable relative to what it once was within a few years.

Download the full report here